Pangolins: The Most Trafficked Mammal You've Never Heard Of | National Geographic What are pangolins? If you've never heard of the pangolin, you're not alone. This shy creature, as big as your cat or dog, is the world's most trafficked mammal ...(Image by YouTube, Channel: National Geographic)DetailsDMCA

The pangolin is a timid little creature going about its nocturnal ways,
slurping up ants and termites with a tongue longer than its body. It
has no teeth. Its defense when threatened is to roll up into a ball
shielded by its scales -- an armor plating that is the cause of its
woes.

Ranging in size from 3 to 73 pounds,
there are eight distinct
species of pangolin -- their name originates in the Malay word 'penggulung'
meaning the one that rolls up.
In 2014, the International Union for Conservation of Nature redlisted
all pangolins, classifying the four Asian species 'endangered' -- of these,
the
Chinese and the Malay (Sunda)
are critically so. Similarly threatened by decreasing numbers, the four African species were listed 'vulnerable'.

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The
principal reason for their plight is their defense mechanism, the
scales, which in some cultures are claimed to hold magical properties.
Thus in parts of Africa, a woman interested in a particular man is
believed to be able to control him by burying a pangolin scale outside
his front door. In China and East Asia, the scales are considered to
have
medicinal benefits.

The meat is also
considered a delicacy. They have long been hunted in Central Africa
for bushmeat but the numbers lost are not easy to calculate. In 2018,
an estimate of 400,000 to 2.7 million killed for food was reported by
researchers using three different methods -- hence the wide range. The
lead author of the study, Daniel Ingram of University College London, expressed greater confidence in the lower number.

The
third Saturday in February, which fell on the 16th this year, is World
Pangolin Day. Unfortunately, there was little cause for celebration as
the following customs seizures from just the previous two months manifest.

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On
December 6, 2018 Malaysian customs officials had to incinerate 2.8 tons
of pangolin scales of Cameroon and Ghanaian origin. In January, Ugandan
authorities confiscated a large store of scales along with ivory of
Congolese origin. Also in January on the 16th, 8.3 tons of pangolin scales were seized in Hong Kong from Nigerian cargo bound for Vietnam.
A raid on a warehouse in Koto Kinabalu, Malaysia, by customs officers on
February 7 yielded 30 tons of frozen pangolins and
pangolin parts.

Adding
to all of this is the largest haul globally in five years as reported
by Singapore authorities on April 5th. They discovered 12.9 tonnes of
pangolin scales from an estimated 17,000 animals along with 390 lb of
ivory in a shipping container destined for Vietnam.
Sadly, these efforts by authorities also attest to the
ineffectiveness of the
ban on all international trade in pangolins two years ago (2017)
by the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Making matters worse, the pangolins
are mammals and (unlike rabbits!) happen to be slow breeding. The gestation period
is 5 months and mothers seldom give birth to more than one pangopup a
year. Pink and soft, the newborn pups are just 6 inches long, weighing about 12 ounces. Their scales begin to harden the next
day. The baby is suckled for three months but insects supplement its diet after about a month. It then takes two years to
reach sexual maturity, all of which accounts for the slow
replacement rate.

Their defense to
roll up into a ball helps them very little for the poachers simply bag
them. Moreover, biologists know little about their physiology and
behavior, knowledge that might help to protect them. Being nocturnal and very shy, they are difficult to track in the wild. And adding to the challenges of research, they unhappily stress easily and usually die in captivity.

Poaching
is almost impossible to stop unless the profit incentive stemming from
the dubious medicinal benefits of the scales is removed -- the April 5th seizure was worth $38 million . The scales are the
principal source of demand and as they are made merely of keratin, the same as
in human fingernails and hair, it then becomes a matter of education
to curb demand.

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For the
gastronomic aspects, one example to follow could be shark fin soup. It
is a delicacy in China and so was expected at official banquets, until
banned in July 2012 following pressure
from environmental groups. Sales have since plummeted.

Do
pangolins have a chance? Let's hope so, or the little fellows will go
the way of the African Northern White rhinoceros before we even get to
know them. Sudan the last white rhino male died on March 19, 2018. As
is often the case, it will take a sustained effort by environmental
groups to persuade the Chinese, Vietnamese and other East Asian governments to act.

Arshad M Khan is a former Professor. Educated at King's College London, Oklahoma State University and the University of Chicago, he has a multidisciplinary background that has frequently informed his research. He was elected a Fellow of the (more...)